


Sunset Over Paragon City

by Ltleflrt



Series: Adventures of Mr and Mrs Monsoon [1]
Category: City of Heroes
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2012-12-03
Packaged: 2017-11-20 04:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ltleflrt/pseuds/Ltleflrt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>November 30th 2012 was the last day the heroes could spend in their home.  The end was coming, and they would need to find a new place to live.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunset Over Paragon City

**Author's Note:**

> A goodbye fic I wrote for the closing down of the City of Heroes servers on Nov 30 2012. Monsoon and Vortex are my husband and me in the game. Amethyst and Nexus are our best friends that we played the game with. I am too sad to read this again, so I apologize for any errors.

Vortex found her husband standing in front of City Hall looking up at the Atlas statue.  His shoulders drooped in his familiar khaki trench coat, and the lightning that normally sparked violently from his eyes was subdued enough that she could barely see it from where she hovered over the steps behind him. 

 

It took barely a thought to propel herself forward.  Monsoon didn’t react when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind other than to reach a hand up to squeeze her wrist.  He would have felt her presence.  Even after the last eight years of training, she still couldn’t completely shield her emotions, and it hadn’t taken him long to understand how to read those signals when she was nearby.  She relaxed her control slightly and let his touch anchor her in place while she also looked up at the huge statue.

 

“Hey, baby,” she said softly next to his ear, ignoring the sparking electricity in his eyes as it leaped across the narrow space between them to tickle her cheek.  It would have injured anyone else, but it wasn’t unusual for flickers of electricity to run over her own skin on occasion. 

 

“Hey, sweetheart,” he replied in a flat voice.

 

Vortex sighed.  Her heart was also broken that they weren’t able to save ParagonCity, but she’d only become a hero because she thought that’s what you did when you developed psychic abilities.  Monsoon… well, he was a hero because he was a Hero.  The kind of man who genuinely believed in his cause.  She occasionally felt twinges of envy over his conviction, but for the most part she just loved him and his good boy heart. 

 

That good boy heart of his was more than just broken.  It was shattered.  This had been his home for so long.  Yeah, they’d managed to evacuate the people in time to avoid the city’s destruction, but no where else they moved to would truly be home.  Not after what they had gone through here. 

 

They had bled for this City.  Lost comrades for its cause.  That left a mark on their souls, just as much as they’d left their mark on city.

 

She wished there was some way to comfort him, but all she could do was squeeze his shoulders and hope he felt her empathy.  The motion pulled her floating body closer to his, and she pressed herself tightly to his back.  His fingers flexed slightly in response, but he kept silent.

 

Her eyes followed the angle he was looking and landed on Atlas’ huge stone ass.  A smile twisted her lips and she giggled.

 

“What’s funny?” Monsoon asked.

 

“Are you checking out Atlas’ booty?” Vortex asked teasingly.  “It’s a nice one, but I thought you preferred the sexy chick over there?”  She motioned to their right at the large statue of a heroine whose name escaped her at the moment.  “I’ve seen you floating between her boobs.  Don’t deny it.”

 

Monsoon chuckled softly.  “Oh, I won’t.  Might take a trip up there to say goodbye to the old girl before we head off to Portal Corp.”

 

Vortex felt her heart lift slightly at the sound of his laugh.  It was still tinged with sadness, but it gave her hope that it wasn’t going to disappear forever.  “Then why are you checking out the Atlas booty?”

 

“I wasn’t looking at his booty,” Monsoon protested.  “I was just thinking about how he’s been holding that world up on his shoulders for so long, but even as the end comes, he isn’t giving up.”  He tilted his head back slightly until it rested on her shoulder, and closed his eyes.  “I feel like we’re abandoning our City.”

 

Tears pricked at her eyes and she held her breath for a moment.  She could feel the power rising up in her as she became more upset, and she really didn’t want to hurt any of the heroes who had also gathered in front of City Hall to say their goodbyes.  The temperature dropped by a few degrees though.  Monsoon patted her arm and brought the temperature back up.  Vortex held the air in her lungs for two more heartbeats before she felt her control settle back into place. 

 

“Thanks,” she said softly in response to his help.  She didn’t try to reassure him that they weren’t abandoning the city.  Maybe if they’d had more time, they could have found a better solution.  But the end was coming.  They only had a few hours left.  And she really didn’t want to lose control and bring a storm down in their last few moments.  She wanted to be able to see the last bit of sunlight shining through the War Walls. 

 

Monsoon didn’t answer, other than to open his eyes again.  The electricity made a fizzling sound as it sparked onto the frames of his glasses.  They stood there – or in her case, hovered – for another ten minutes or so.  Reliving the memories together. 

 

“Hey,” Vortex finally whispered.  “We should go.  There are still some refugees at Portal Corp who need may need our help.”

 

Her husband nodded, and his feet left the ground as he prepared to fly with her to the train station.  Typically he preferred to run everywhere, but she understood that flying, while slower, would allow him to take in as much of the view as he could on the way to PeregrineIsland.  She loosened her hold, and slid her fingers down over the sleeve of his coat.  Her fingers slipped between his and he grasped her hand tightly.  She could feel him shaking, and she gave a slight tug to pull him towards the Green Line.  She had briefly considered opening an O-Portal but knew that he wouldn’t want to miss one last ride on the monorail.

 

Truthfully, she didn’t either.

 

“Come on,” she prompted again, and he finally followed her. 

 

Once they sat down in an empty car and it started into motion, Vortex pulled out her phone and loaded her radio app.  Two taps on the screen started The Cape, and she smiled at the fact that the towers were still broadcasting a data signal.  She hoped that whatever dimension she ended up in had a mobile network this reliable. 

 

Her smile faded into a scowl when she heard the song.  “Really?” she shouted at the defenseless device in her hand.  “Seasons of Love??  That song made me cry when I saw Rent.  I do not need this right now!”

 

But she didn’t push stop. 

 

Monsoon wrapped an arm around her shoulders this time and pulled her close.  He pressed a kiss through her hair, and didn’t say anything when she tugged her cape out from under her hips and dabbed at her eyes.  On her shoulder, her black cat Kiki mewled softly and nuzzled her ear which only made Vortex cry harder. 

 

Ice coated the windows of the train car for split second before Monsoon started countering Vortex’s powers.  “Sorry,” she croaked.  “I’ll get it together in a minute, I promise.”

 

“It’s ok,” Monsoon said against her hair. 

 

But it wasn’t.  Not really.  Maybe it would be someday, but not today.

 

Vortex did her breathing exercises until she regained control of her powers again.  She was grateful that her husband was there to help her.  Over the years, he’d been invaluable for teaching her to control the strange powers she’d developed.  It was apparent that she still needed him.  _I’d need him anyway,_ she thought with a smile as she felt a slight zap of electricity from his eyes. 

 

She’d hated her powers when they first manifested.  But it was because of them that she moved to this absolutely amazing city and met him.  Now she quite appreciated the random mutation that had given her the power to transmit her emotions, and play with the weather. 

 

The train finally came to a stop, and they left it to grab the Talos Ferry out to the Peregrine Isles.  By the time the short ride was over, she had full control again, and was able to make the trip to Portal Corp without any further incidents. 

 

Vortex caught sight of Amethyst and her husband Nexus off to the side giving instructions to a group of civilians waiting their turn to go through the portal.  She hovered over to them.  Amethyst saw Vortex coming and opened her arms for a hug which was readily accepted.  Nexus wrapped his arms around them both once the people he’d been talking to headed off in the direction of the portal.

 

 

“Are you ready?” Amethyst asked loudly over the roar of the barely controlled rift in reality boiling angrily nearby.

 

Vortex gave her a tremulous smile as Nexus broke off to shake hands with Monsoon.  “Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” she shouted back. 

 

“MilleniumCity isn’t quite ready for us,” Monsoon added.

 

The four of them grinned at each other.  The moment of levity was precious, and they all treasured it. 

 

Vortex and Monsoon joined their fellow heroes, and even a few villains they’d fought against in the past years to usher the rest of the refugees through the portal. 

 

“Well,” Nexus said, looking at his watch.  “There wasn’t much time to spare, but we made it.”  He took Amethyst’s hand in his and smiled around the mostly empty room.  “See you on the other side,” he called.  They joined the stream of heroes now moving through the portal.

 

Vortex waved, and turned to Monsoon who was breathing hard as he looked up at the ring holding the doorway to their new home in place.  She slipped her hand into his and gave a tug so that he would look at her.  “Hey,” she said loudly over the roaring portal.  “We’ll be together.”

 

Monsoon smiled sadly.  He gave a nod and took a deep breath.  His feet lifted from the floor so he was floating next to her again.  Vortex gave a tug and then let the momentum pull them slowly toward the portal.


End file.
